Question

Classify protozoan organelles involved with feeding and digestion

Answer 1

Mechanisms of food ingestion

Protozoans may take food into the cell at a specific point, such as the cytostome (a well-developed feeding groove), at a particular region of the cell surface, or at any random point of entry. In the collared flagellates, or choanoflagellates, for example, the collar and flagellum operate in feeding. The collar, composed of fine pseudopodia, surrounds the flagellum. The beating flagellum creates a water current, causing water to move through the collar. Particles of food in the current are trapped on the collar and are ingested by pseudopodia at its base. The ingested food is then enclosed in a membrane-bound digestive or food vacuole.